Academy of Art in San Francisco captured its first Pacific West Conference Championship by two strokes over Hawaii-Hilo on the Beach Course at Waikoloa Village Golf Club in Waikoloa, Hawaii.
The Urban Knights finished with a score of 293-283-285—861, 21-over-par, followed by Hawaii-Hilo at 286-289-288—863, Hawaii Pacific at 287-293-287—867, Holy Names of Oakland at 286-289-294—869, Dominican of San Rafael at 307-295-296—898 and Chaminade of Hawaii at 323-313-313—949.
“I’m so proud of the entire team, they all work so hard and they deserved to enjoy this moment,” Academy of Art Coach Andy Moren said.
Academy of Art advanced to the NCAA DII West/South Central Regional beginning May 6.
Keita Okada of Hawaii Pacific claimed the individual title by one stroke at 69-68-70—207, 3-under, followed by Julius Kreutzer of Academy of Art at 70-69-69—208, while Matthew Watkins of Academy of Art shot 70-70-70—210 to tie for third with Ryan Torres of Hawaii Pacific, who finished at 70-70-70—210.
“Matt and Julius were steady all week,” Moren said. “They really showed grit and perseverance each round.”
Hoshi Yadav of Holy Names was fifth at 71-67-75—213, while Gabriel Manotoc of Academy of Art totaled 76-68-71—215 to tie for sixth with Dustin Franko of Hawaii-Hilo, who wound up at 69-74-72—215.
Nicholas Gomez of Hawaii-Hilo was eighth at 75-70-71—216, followed by Willis Lee of Hawaii-Hilo at 74-71-72—217 and Luke Dugger of Holy Names at 71-74-73—218.
Matt Fry led Dominican in 14th at 71-72-80—223.
Rounding out the scoring for team champion Academy of Art were Otto Homruen in a tie for 18th at 77-76-75—228, and Jack DeBenedetti in 26th at 78-78-81—237.
For complete results, visit http://results.golfstat.com/public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=team&tid=21702
